How BBAU Lucknow’s law department broke into NIRF top 10

NEW DELHI: Four Uttar Pradesh institutions featured in the National Institutional Ranking Framework’s (NIRF) list of top law schools in 2023. The Law Department of Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar University (BBAU), Lucknow, was in the tenth spot, the highest of the four. Launched in 2008-09, the department offers BBA-LLB, LLM and PhD programmes. Sudarshan Verma, head of the department, told Careers360 they have plans to launch a BA-LLB. Edited excerpts from the conversation below.

Q. How did BBAU Lucknow become one of the top 10 law schools in the country?

A. We are very happy that we got the tenth spot in NIRF. This happened because our teachers are working hard, taking proper classes and mentoring the students to attend moot courts and competitions. Our exams are being conducted timely and we declare results on time. We also show answer sheets to our students after they are checked. Our students have won inter-college moot courts and parliamentary debate competitions.

Our courses are professional. After completing the courses, students register themselves with their state bar councils. Many BBAU students are practicing in High Courts and the Supreme Court. They are also working as law officers in various courts. Some are also working as assistant professors in various universities. So, placements have also helped us in bagging the tenth spot on the NIRF list of rankings.

Q. Is there any plan to change the admission process for the BBA-LLB course, to switch from the Common University Entrance Test-Undergraduate (CUET-UG) to Common Law Admission Test (CLAT)

A. We don’t have any policy of carrying out our admissions through CLAT till date. Most students who take the CLAT prefer to get enrolled in National Law Universities (NLUs).

Students who do not appear in the CLAT examination and do not seek admission in NLUs are our target students. We carry out our admissions through CUET-UG and get good students. If we take CLAT students, we will end up with only those who score low marks and have failed to secure a berth in any of the NLUs.

Our university’s focus is on Scheduled Caste (SC) and Scheduled Tribe (ST) students who get scholarships from the social welfare department of Uttar Pradesh government. During admission, they get relaxation in tuition fees. We also take remedial classes for them if they want to clear doubts.

Q. Are you planning to launch any new courses?

A. We are planning to start a BA-LLB course. It has been passed by academic bodies of our university. We are mainly facing infrastructural issues. The work of expanding the building is pending. After its completion, we will be able to start the new course.

Whenever infrastructure is available to us, the law department of BBAU, Lucknow will start BA-LLB courses too. It will probably take two-three years but can happen before that as well.

Q. The Supreme Court in September 2023 had said dependence on contractual appointments for teaching staff is “unacceptable and undesirable”. How many permanent and ad-hoc faculties are there in BBAU’s law department?

A. There are six permanent teachers in the law department of BBAU, Lucknow. Only one permanent faculty post is vacant which is likely to be advertised very soon. Ten other teachers are working on contract-basis. Since the time our department has started, we have been requesting the University Grants Commission (UGC) to grant us permanent posts. Whenever we get the sanctions, we will start appointing permanent teachers. There is a requirement of 15 permanent posts in our department.

It is not up to the university to create permanent faculty posts. It is only the UGC which approves permanent posts. I think the Supreme Court must also intervene and direct the UGC to sanction permanent posts.

Q. The UGC is considering introducing law courses in regional languages. Will BBAU be able to teach law in regional languages?

A. Hindi is our regional language in Uttar Pradesh. Most of our students hail from Hindi-speaking states. Currently, we teach them in bilingual language (Hindi and English). There will be no problem if UGC introduces law courses in regional languages.

Q. How important is research for the law department?

A. Research is among the focus areas of the law department at BBAU, Lucknow. Our research scholars are regularly getting scholarships for research. UGC-NET fellowships are being given to researchers who could not get other kinds of scholarships like Junior Research Fellowship (JRF) and others.

Q. The parliament has recently passed Criminal Law Bills. Will BBAU Lucknow change its curriculum to include new laws ?

A. We plan to modify our curriculum to include recent changes in the field of law. It is the duty of the head of the department to make necessary amendments in the syllabus which had not happened in the past few years. I have recently joined as the HOD and will try my best to make all the necessary amendments.

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Q. What would be your message to aspiring law students wishing to join BBAU, Lucknow ?

A. My message would be: focus on your studies. The department of law at BBAU, Lucknow, is providing focused teaching and a good study environment to students. We motivate them to participate in various co-curricular activities like moot courts and debates. We mentor them for other competitive exams as well. BBAU, Lucknow is a good institution for students to get a degree and begin their career in law.